Dunloy camogs have a spring in their step says O’Kane

DUNLOY camogs have had to bide their time to get a crack at Ulster, and now they have the opportunity, they’re keen not to let it slip.

Manager Gary O’Kane says that an already hugely committed group of players have further ramped up their efforts ahead of Sunday’s Senior Championship showdown with Clonduff at Stewartstown.

Prior to this season, they suffered one hard luck story after another in Antrim, losing four finals in five years, but they finally reached the promised land for the first time in 23 years with victory over Cushendall in the final.

Their manager Gary O’Kane, a former Dunloy and Antrim hurler, said the players never wavered in their ambitions to hit the heights of a dominant Loughgiel team.

“They’ve never dropped their heads. In a sense, the problem was Loughgiel, who are an unbelievable team. You can’t close the gates – you just have to keep going and hope that, some day, things will go your way.

“Since I came in, Loughgiel have been playing at an incredibly high level. They played in an All-Ireland final and were beaten by a point by St Finbarr’s after extra time last year. We were very unlucky in the final against them last year, but that’s what great champions do – they know how to win, and Loughgiel found a way.

“What we’ve tried to do is raise the bar ourselves every year, even after last season. We came back, had a meeting and discussed what we needed to do. The girls have put in extra gym work on their own and extra wall-ball sessions. We’re looking for any little percentage we can get and thankfully it paid off.”

Landing a first Antrim title in more than two decades was a cathartic experience for all involved. The pressure is well and truly off as they look ahead to Sunday’s joust with Clonduff, but that’s not to say that they’ve stepped off the gas either.

“For our girls, maybe the pressure is off a wee bit now that we’ve got over Antrim. You could see the bounce in training after the Antrim final. It’s been electric. The girls are coming in early to train – to be fair they always did – and they’re just mad to get at it.”

On the challenge before them, O’Kane and his management team will leave no stone unturned in their assessment of Down side Clonduff.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, O’Kane said: “We got the video, watched their semi-final with Swatragh, and went over everything. We trained last night and the management team had a look at it. We’ll watch it again before the week is out and put our plans in place.”